welcome to "newsline."

it's wednesday, december 12th. i'm catherine kobayashi. the south korean government officials say north korean workers have dismantled a rocket they had been preparing to launch. leaders in pyongyang say they want to put a satellite into orbit, but those in seoul and elsewhere believe the north koreans want to develop technology for a long-range missile, and they still expect the launch will go ahead. south korean government officials told nhk that they confirmed the three-stage rocket was being taken down, and they said it was moved to a nearby facility. on monday, officials in pyongyang extended the launch window by one week to december 29th. they said they were having technical problems with the first-stage control module. government officials in seoul say the defect may not be limited to the first stage, and it may take some time before launch is possible. but they remain on alert. they say they believe the north koreans still want to launch the missile before the end of the month. south korean media have reported on claims that iranian

missile experts are helping with the launch. officials in iran say the claims are baseless. >> translator: they're using propaganda to scare people and harm our relations with north korea and other countries. >> the spokesperson acknowledged the two countries cooperated militarily in the 1980s during the iran/iraq war but he says that cooperation since then has been limited to economic areas. the second in command and mahmoud ahmadinejad agreed in september to cooperate in the field of science and technology. china's new communist party leader has gone on his first tour since assuming the post last month. he's promising to carry on with the reforms of his predecessors. state-run china central television reported on xi's five-day trip. he laid flowers last saturday at

the statue of the late leader. he said he'll push forward with reforms and with opening up china. xi appears to be following in dong's footsteps. the former leader visited the province 20 years ago and preached about accelerated reforms and more openness. bankers are going through some troubled times these days. dirty money, bank rates manipulated, insider trading. ai joins us now from the business desk. ai. >> catherine, thanks. it seems bankers were a little too lax with their bankers. hsbc has agreed to pay a fine in the united states in connection with charges of money laundering. media reports say the fine will be the largest ever paid by a bank to u.s. authorities. hsbc admitted on tuesday its anti-money laundering measures had been inadequate. the bank agreed to pay the penalties to u.s. authorities including the justice department. the bank says it accepts responsibility for past mistakes

and has beefed up its internal controls. in july, a u.s. senate report accused the bank of being involved in money transfers linked to drug deals originating in mexico. the report also said the bank settled money transactions with links to iran, a country under u.s. sanctions. now, british authorities have arrested three british men. that's over their alleged connection to a rate-fixing scandal involving libor, the london interbank offered rate. the serious fraud office announced tuesday the first arrests in the case that has rocked the financial community. but officials gave no details other than the arrested men are british citizens in their 30s or 40s. it's unknown whether the suspects worked for banks or what their exact charges are. in june, the nation's financial regulators imposed a huge fine on barclays bank based in the uk for underreporting libor. the global benchmark is used for hundreds of trillions of dollars in transactions.

regulators in various countries are also investigating possible involvement of other banks. in japan, financial regulator -- japan's financial regulator, that is, they plan to strengthen rules against insider trading after a series of information leaks from major securities firms earlier this year. the financial services agency now wants stricter punishment for employees at securities firms who illegally leak information to their clients. under current regulations, those employees are not subject to punishment. but after the revision, the agency will reveal names of those involved in serious cases. that's including investors. the agency is also considering a steep rise in penalties. regulators hope to complete a revised bill by the end of the year and submit it to parliament next year. now let's get a check on how markets are performing. tokyo's main stock index broke 9,600 for the first time in 7 1/2 months at the open.

it's currently trading right below that at 9,570, still a gain of 0.5% from tuesday's close. an overnight rally overseas is fueling market sentiment. a weaker yen's also lifting export-related issues. let's take a look at the currency markets. the euro is higher against the yen. euro/yen is currently quoted at 107.36-40. the euro's advance is due to a good result in a german business sentiment survey. the dollar/yen remains tight ahead of the fed's policy meeting which ends on wednesday. market players are waiting to see whether the fed will ease further. dollar/yen currently quoted at 82.58-60. let's take a look at other markets in the asia-pacific. south korea's kospi, that's trading higher by 0.20%, 1,968. taking a look at australia, the benchmark index there is trading

higher by 0.3%, 4,589. china has become the world's biggest processor of patent applications, overtaking the u.s. for the first time last year. the world intellectual property organization says china's patent office received more than 526,000 applications in 2011. that's up 35% from the previous year. the united states received 503,000 applications. japan came in third with 342,000. that's slightly down from the previous year. china overtook japan in 2010. more business headlines for you next hour. i'm going to leave you with a check on markets.

this just coming into us right now. breaking news. the japanese government has announced that officials in north korea have launched a missile. government officials say the north koreans went ahead with

the launch at 9:49 local time this morning. they said the missile went off in a southerly direction. the north koreans say they were launching a rocket to put a satellite into orbit, but leaders in seoul and elsewhere say they were carrying out a test of a long-range ballistic missile. the north koreans launched a missile from a facility in the northwest in april. it blew up less than two minutes after liftoff. now, north korea's neighbors have gone through this before. the country's announcement at the beginning of the month sparked a series of preparations in south korea, japan and elsewhere. nhk world's reporter has reported on the korean peninsula for years. both from seoul and tokyo. hiroki, so why did north korea go ahead in the face of strong opposition? >> well, kim jong-il was to preserve the nation's sovereignty. this included peaceful use of nuclear technology and space

exploration. the north koreans insist this launch is such for peaceful use. on april 15th, in his first speech after the last-minute launch, kim jong-un said peace is precious but that the dignity of the people under sovereignty of the nation are even more precious. he indicated his intention to follow his father's footsteps and this launch is seen as part of that, i think. >> so why did the north koreans choose to launch now? >> well, experts point to two reasons. and the one is that the timing relates to a scheduled satellite launch by the south koreans. they had planned to send up a satellite on november 29th but postponed. the two koreas are competing to be the top satellite-launching countries.

it is opposed by the north. those in pyongyang believe such opposition is caused by what they call the hostile policy of the united states. they insist that the americans change their position and that ask that they launch. another reason is that they formulated a plan to build a missile by the country was unable to produce results. so they began this missile launch as a way to signal the success of their policy. the north koreans announced they would launch a satellite between the 22nd. then on december 10th, they extended the launch period by one week for technical reasons. this long window indicates they place great importance on successfully launching within a year. >> thank you very much, hiroki. do stay there, if you would. we'll get back to you in a moment. leaders in pyongyang went

ahead with the launch despite repeated requests to cancel it. they said it would, in their words, encourage the korean people. nhk world's reporter explains what else might be moat vtivati them. >> reporter: the north koreans have played out a familiar scenario. space officials and others gathered at the launch pad in april. they assembled a three-stage rocket. and they said it would carry a satellite into space. but then as now, their neighbors said they were carrying out a test of a ballistic missile. the test failed. the rocket exploded less than two minutes after liftoff. >> translator: we didn't succeed in putting the earth observation satellite into orbit. experts including scientists and engineers are looking into what went wrong. ♪

>> reporter: kim jong-un didn't give up. his father, kim jong-il, had promoted the military first policy by overseeing such operations. on the day of the launch in april, kim took over as chairman of the national defense commission. >> translator: we should strive to bring about industrial revolution in the new century and begin a journey toward an economic power. >> reporter: kim made various attempts to cement his power. he promised to rebuild the economy. north korea imports most of its goods, even daily necessities there china. government officials say they are encouraging foreign investment so they can make more products at home.

kim has cast himself as a benevolent leader. he even set up a bureau to add amusement parks. >> translator: i hope people in our country will smile and live happily. i promise we will build up the strongest nation. >> reporter: such efforts have done nothing to feed the hungry. officials with the u.n. world food program say 60 million north koreans, nearly 70% of the population, suffer from malnutrition. and things could get even tougher this winter. north koreans endured a severe drought this spring. then widespread flooding. south korean experts estimate the extreme weather will leave a shortage of 1 million tons of grain. and still, kim jong-un went

ahead. this year marks 100 years since the birth of his grandfather, the nation's founder, kim il-song. his father died last december. and now kim jong-un is trying to put his stamp on history. nhk world, tokyo. as we've been reporting, the japanese government has announced that officials in north korea have launched a missile. government officials say the north koreans went ahead with the launch at 9:49 local time this morning. they said the missile went off in a southerly direction. the north koreans say they were launching a rocket to put a satellite into orbit. but leaders in seoul and elsewhere say they were carrying out a test of a long-range ballistic missile. the north koreans launched a missile from a facility in the northwest in april. it blew up less than two minutes after liftoff. now, the south korean ministry of national defense has confirmed the launch.

an official says it took place from the site. the north koreans carried out the previous launch in april from that same facility. south koreans, japanese and u.s. officials, among others, your honored the north koreans to cancel. it appears they ignored the warnings. now let's bring back hiroki. the north koreans announced on december 10th that it would extend the period for launching, what it calls a satellite-carrying rocket, by one week. they ignored all criticism from the international community and went ahead. why is that? >> well, i think one of the reasons is that it's a message to the united states. the two sides met in beijing in february. the americans offered humanitarian aid in exchange for the north freezing its missile development. but the north koreans, nonetheless, launched a missile in april. the talks have been stalled ever since. before president obama enters his second term, officials in pyongyang want the americans to

recognize their challenge such as the middle east and afghanistan. another reason it's related to south korea's presidential election scheduled on december 19th. the north koreans hope that the new government will return. they have criticized the conservative candidate for her stance on relations. the missile launch can be seen as a way of pushing the south koreans towards the hard line. >> i see. china is a longtime ally of north korea. how do you see its role? >> i believe china can greatly influence the united nations' reaction. after the previous launch in april, the united nations issued a statement of condemnation. the day before the north's announcement of this launch by its chairman of china's national peoples congress to meet with kim jong-un.

the launch announcement the following day caused the chinese to lose face. this time they have strongly urged restraint. also, i think it is important to closely watch how they react. >> thanks very much, hiroki. security analysts in the u.s. and elsewhere have used satellite images to try to understand what the north koreans have been up to. they've examined those photos for hints. and they've tried to get whatever information they can to help them understand the technology. nhk world's reporter reports. ♪ >> reporter: engineers in north korea started developing a full-fledged missile program in the 1980s. they produced a series of missiles, their own versions of the soviet technology. the late kim jong-il accelerated the missile program. >> translator: this program is meant to encourage our people to build a strong and prosperous

socialist nation under the leadership of our great leader, kim jong-il. >> reporter: in 1998, north koreans launched taepodong-1 with a range of more than 1500 kilometers. it flew over japan, then fell into the pacific ocean. north korean officials fired off seven missiles in july 2006. one of them is believed to have been a taepodong-2 with the potential range of about 6,000 kilometers. enough to reach alaska. >> translator: the missile launch was suspect it's part of military drills to strength. the nation's defense capability. >> reporter: despite this assertion, experts believe the missile disintegrated shortly after liftoff. in 2009, north korea decided to go one step further. authorities announced they were sending a satellite into space.

again they launched what was thought to be a three-stage missile. the japanese government went on high alert and decided to release information to municipal authorities. >> translator: time of launch, around 11:30 a.m. location, north korea. >> reporter: japanese officials said the first stage probably landed in the sea of japan. the rest flew more than 3,000 kilometers, passing over northeastern japan before falling into the pacific. the latest launch occurred in april, four months after kim jong-il's death. the new leadership under his son, kim jong-un, also claimed it was a satellite-carrying rocket. but it blew up shortly after liftoff. nhk world, tokyo. for those of you just joining us, the japanese

government has announced that north korea has launched a missile. government officials say the north koreans went ahead with the launch at 9:49 local time this morning. they say it went south and passed over japan's southernmost prefecture, okinawa. japan's self-defense force commanders had deployed personnel and interceptor missiles throughout the area, but they did not shoot down any debris. government officials estimate the missile fell into the pacific ocean about 300 kilometers east of the philippines. the south korean ministry of the national defense has confirmed the launch. an official says it took place. the north koreans carried out the previous launch in april from that facility. south koreans, japanese and u.s. officials, among others, urged the north koreans to cancel. it appears they ignored the warnings. now, once again, the south korean ministry of national defense has confirmed the launch. an official says it took place from the site.

the north koreans carried out the previous launch in april from that facility. south korean, japanese and u.s. officials, among others, urged the north koreans to cancel. it appears they ignored the warnings. leaders in pyongyang went ahead with the launch, as we've been reporting, despite repeated requests to cancel it. they said it would, in other words, encourage the korean people. nhk world's reporter explains what else might be motivating them. >> reporter: the north koreans have played out a familiar scenario. space agency officials and others gathered at the launch pad in april. they assembled a three-stage rocket. and they said it would carry a satellite into space. but then as now, their neighbors said they were carrying out a test of a ballistic missile. the test failed. the rocket exploded less than

two minutes after liftoff. >> translator: we didn't succeed in putting the earth observation satellite into orbit. experts including scientists and engineers are looking into what went wrong. ♪ >> reporter: king jong-un didn't give up. his father, kim jong-il, had promoted the military-first policy by overseeing such operations. the younger kim wanted to define his role. on the day of the launch in april, kim took over as chairman of the national defense commission. >> translator: we should strive to bring about industrial revolution in the new century and begin a journey toward an economic power. >> reporter: kim made various

attempts to cement his power. he promised to rebuild the economy. north korea imports most of its goods, even daily necessities from china. government officials say they are encouraging foreign investment so they can make more products at home. kim has cast himself as a benevolent leader. he even set up a bureau to add amusement parks. >> translator: i hope people in our country will smile and live happily. i promise we will build up the strongest nation. >> reporter: such efforts have done nothing to feed the hungry. officials with the u.n. world food program say 60 million north koreans, nearly 70% of the population, suffer from malnutrition. and things could get even tougher this winter. north koreans endured a severe drought this spring.

then widespread flooding. south korean experts estimate the extreme weather will leave a shortage of 1 million tons of grain. and still, kim jong-un went ahead. this year marks 100 years since the birth of his grandfather, the nation's founder, kim il-song. his father died last december. and now kim jong-un is trying to put his stamp on history. kengo omata, nhk world. the japanese government has announced that north korea has launched a missile. government officials say the north koreans went ahead with the launch at 9:49 local time this morning. they say it went south and passed over japan's southernmost prefecture, okinawa.

japan's self-defense force commanders had deployed personnel and interceptor missiles throughout the area, but they did not shoot down any debris. government officials estimate the missile fell into the pacific ocean about 300 kilometers east of the philippines. now, china's state-run xinhua news agency says north korea has launched a rocket today, but there has been no related reports from north korea. we'll bring you more updates on this story as they come in. now let's take a look at the extended weather forecast for selected cities around the world.

this story breaking to us this hour. the japanese government ha